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Comparison between normal and Azi ship crews/abilities of Azi in general

This thread originated in:
The technology levels of the different races

>Date: Thu, 13 May 1993 19:45:04 -0500
>From: "Phil G. Fraering" <pgf@srl.cacs.usl.edu>
>Subject: cherryhlist

(...)

2. It seems to take a lot more training to operate an ECS carrier smoothly than you could probably get from Azi (except for the really specialized ones, which you don't have that many of).

(...)

Phil

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>From: Onno Meyer <Onno.Meyer@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Mon, 17 May 1993 16:17:19 +0200 (MET DST)

> 2. It seems to take a lot more training to operate an ECS carrier
> smoothly than you could probably get from Azi (except for the really
> specialized ones, which you don't have that many of).

From _DS_: p.171 ... They had one advantage over Union's sleek, new ships, the fine equipment, the unscarred young crews, tape-trained, deepthaught with all the answers. The Fleet had experience, could move their patched ships with a precision Union's fine equipment had not yet matched, with nerve Union conservativism and adherence to the book discouraged in it's captains. ...

I would say that (a) the Fleet crews are better and (b) they are taking risks no sane man would take. Union has won the war at the time of _DS_. Their captains will be reluctant to risk their crews and ships with crazy stunts that could kill them even before they engage the Fleet. The Fleet captains know they have lost the war (at least the top two know) and it doesn't really matter wether they die now or later.

Onno

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>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant@maths.tcd.ie>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Tue, 18 May 93 9:25:52 BST

(...)

> 2. It seems to take a lot more training to operate an ECS carrier
> smoothly than you could probably get from Azi (except for the really
> specialized ones, which you don't have that many of).

From _Cyteen_ (and _DS_, _Serpent's Reach_, etc) it seems that azi make the *best* soldiers, agents, pilots, techs, etc. They can be trained pretty quickly on the theoretical side of things, and don't seem to have problems putting theory into practice instantly (tape-teaching seems to make one 'practised' at something, even if it's a new discipline). The military in Union also consistently bought the 'best' azi, the ones with most initiative and so forth.

(...)

			Lesley

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>From: nancy ott <ott@ansoft.com>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Tue, 18 May 93 12:04:53 EDT

> (...)
>       From _Cyteen_ (and _DS_, _Serpent's Reach_, etc) it seems that azi
> make the *best* soldiers, agents, pilots, techs, etc. (...)

The azi may make the most effective soldiers and technicians, but who makes the most effective commanders and researchers? The individuals in positions of authority in Cherryh's novels are almost always normal humans, not azi. In "Downbelow Station", "Cyteen" and "40,000 in Gehenna" it seemed pretty clear that azi upbringing and tape learning do not generally produce individuals with the ability to react well to chaotic situations. Azi do what they know spectacularly well -- hence, they make excellent soldiers, techs, gardeners, security or what have you -- but can't always handle the unexpected. Even Reseune hadn't succeeded at mass-producing creativity and higher-level thinking; most of the azi with those skills were unstable.

Azi like Grant, who were raised by normal humans, and older azi who have had the chance to learn from experience behave more like regular humans. Azi who were raised in a farm setting like Reseune, tape-trained and specially taught, behave .... well, like azi. I'd imagine that Josh Talley was somewhere in the middle, with more early socialization than a regular azi -- allowing him to handle the unpredictability of a spy and saboteur's life -- and more deep-teach/custom training than someone like Grant.

I've left the azi in "Serpent's Reach" out of this because they aren't Union azi; they're part of an entirely different society (the Reach).

nancy ott (...)

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>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant@maths.tcd.ie>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Wed, 19 May 93 9:59:43 BST

 
nancy writes: 
> The azi may make the most effective soldiers and technicians, but who
> makes the most effective commanders and researchers?
> (...)
>  Azi do what they know spectacularly well --
> hence, they make excellent soldiers, techs, gardeners, security or what
> have you -- but can't always handle the unexpected.  Even Reseune
> hadn't succeeded at mass-producing creativity and higher-level
> thinking; most of the azi with those skills were unstable.

I think it's more that azi are fantastic at what they do, and can handle the unexpected, as long as it's still within their field of expertise. But put them in a different situation, and botht he expected and unexpected will throw them. The security azi in _Cyteen_ are great about handling wierd security situations (once they have a bit of experience -- Florian screws up when he's a kid, but that seems to be because he's young and inexperienced). In non-security situations, they tend to stand around shyly wishing they had someone to assassinate. It also specifically states that an azi soldier is more likely than a born human to refuse to blindly follow stupid orders, but that the same military azi, given citizenship papers and kids, tend to revert to classic stereotypical military parents (because they are trying to make life 'expected' again?). You are certainly right in saying that chaotic situations are not reacted well to by azi, but I think the definition of chaotic varies from career to career -- an azi soldier is probably not thrown by seeming chaos in war, but could well be by something like a Novgorod transport system.
Something interesting about the azi we're shown is the huge over-representation of alphas. In _Cyteen_ especially the alphas are almost the norm for azi behaviour and mentality, including the perception of perhaps being potentially unstable. Where are the betas, at least? Let alone the vast numbers of 'lesser' azi. We are really only shown the absolute top percentage of azi (just as we're shown the top percentage of born humans), and have to guess at what 'normal' azi are like.

>I'd imagine that Josh Talley was somewhere in the middle, with more early
> socialization than a regular azi -- allowing him to handle the
> unpredictability of a spy and saboteur's life -- and more
> deep-teach/custom training than someone like Grant.

Yeah. Maybe the farm and his 'aunt' were in some way real after all.

				Lesley

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>Date: Thu, 20 May 93 15:07:25 +0200
>From: mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at (Markus Stumptner)
>Subject: cherryhlist

>	Something interesting about the azi we're shown is the huge
>over-representation of alphas. In _Cyteen_ especially the alphas are
>almost the norm for azi behaviour and mentality, including the perception
>of perhaps being potentially unstable. Where are the betas, at least?

I'd say that is because the whole plot of Cyteen revolves around the "corridors of power", where naturally the alphas would be predominantly used. Lower ratings are visible only on the sidelines, and the vast majority would be used outside of Reseune, more so than with the alphas, I guess.

(I haven't read 40000 in Gehenna, so I don't know if it's any different there.)

	Markus